Fifth Sunday of Lent

Reflection

“Sir, we would like to see Jesus.”

Our Lenten Journey with Jesus is drawing closer and closer to the cross. During the Passover Festival, some Greeks are in town and they want to meet Jesus. Philip and Andrew bring the request to Jesus. In John’s account of the Gospel, this exchange points to the expansive mission of God in the life of Jesus. The wider world is now seeking Jesus. The Covenant Community is expanding.

The response Jesus makes points us to the Paschal Mystery of Christ’s dying and rising. "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.”

Is there a reminder in this for those of us who want to “see” Jesus, either for the first time, or through the daily renewal of our relationship to “see thee more clearly” as the Godspell song prays? What in us might need to “die” so that we can “bear fruit” through our relationship with Jesus? What is it about following Jesus that we want to pay closer attention to as we move toward Holy Week?

Prayer

With the Psalmist, perhaps that exploration toward clearer sight and deeper relationship with Jesus might well begin with the prayer: “Create a clean heart in me, O God.”

The Right Reverend Thomas C. Ely, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Vermont

Scripture

First Reading: Ezekiel 37:12-14

Psalm 130:1-8

Second Reading: Romans 8:8-11

Gospel: John 11:1-45

Daily Scripture readings can be found online at the USCCB website